Cambridgeshire North East is an overwhelmingly rural constituency with over 200 miles of flat fenlands.

Many constituents are employed in farming, particularly of potatoes and apples, and haulage.

The main towns are Wisbech, March - the only town with a rail link - Whittlesey and Chateris, with two smaller towns of Sutton and Littleport.

Since the closure of the main Ely Hospital in 1992, although there remains a minor injuries unit on the site, people in the south of the constituency have had to travel to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge for treatment.

The north of the constituency is better served by hospitals.

This has been an historically safe Conservative seat, except for the 14 year reign of the Liberal celebrity Clement Freud who was elected in a by-election in 1973.

A TV and radio personality and sometime director of the Playboy club, Clement Freud did not stand in the 1992 general election when Conservative Malcolm Moss recaptured the seat.

Labour also briefly dominated Fenland Council between 1995 and 1997, but the Tories are now once again firmly entrenched on the council.